


The Red Force Returns

by genesisgrey



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, M/M, Magic, Magical Tattoos, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rituals, Sensuality, Sex Magic, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-13
Updated: 2018-04-13
Packaged: 2019-04-22 06:52:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14303229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/genesisgrey/pseuds/genesisgrey
Summary: Centuries ago a power known as the Red Force threatened Tree of Life. It was defeated, but not destroyed. Ancient legend is the furthest thing from Master Mage Kai's mind as he attempts to help his (adorably sexy, but who's paying attention to that) apprentice Kyungsoo control his power. The potential end of the world, however, will not be ignored.





	The Red Force Returns

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanted to write sexy mages for nethene and a plot formed...

The explosion hadn't been that large.

Kai was sure no one in a castle full of mages and apprentice mages even noticed. So long as he cleaned everything up, got new flasks and glassware from the alchemy lab, scraped all the black smudges off the stone walls, aired out his work room of that awful sulfurous scent, no one would be the wiser.

Especially not his apprentice... who was standing over him.

Damn.

Kyungsoo's arms were crossed over his chest, a flash of silver gleamed in his dark eyes as he let out a sigh. "What were you even trying to do?" he asked as he knelt and picked Kai up off the floor.

Kai let the apprentice help him over to a stool, which Kyungsoo had to kick upright. "I was seeing if I could make a spell to help the grass grow greener."

"Why?"

"Why not?"

Kyungsoo sighed. He sighed a lot around Kai. Considerably more than in the company of others, Kai noticed. "Of course that's your answer," he said as he moved over to open the shutters and let in fresh air. "Stay there. I'll get you some water."

Kai watched him exit the workroom and groaned. He was the Master, but Kyungsoo was always taking care of him in situations such as this.

It was a bit of an... issue.

Kyungsoo was a few years older than him, which wasn't unheard of, but it was certainly uncommon. He had come into possession of his magic late due to circumstances neither he, Kai, nor the Council or castle administrative staff fully understood. Late bloomers often had one skill or were not terribly powerful. Kyungsoo, however, was, without a doubt, a savant. He had good resonance with the cardinal elements and a natural draw to the raw mystic energy called force. Magic responded well to him and he learned quickly. Less than a year at the castle and he could have flattened most journeyman level mages in a test of power, skill, or knowledge.

Still, true mastery, according to the Council, took time and practice and benefited from learning with others. Which was why Kyungsoo was still only an apprentice. He took it a lot better than some in his situation would.

Especially after being placed under a Master known as the 'Mad Magician.'

It was noteworthy Kyungsoo was the only apprentice assigned to Kai. Most Master level mages who remained at Castle Saengmyeong-Ui Namu instead of going to meet their maker or make their fortune or whatever had at least three or four. Kyungsoo was the first apprentice ever assigned to Kai by the assignment spell.

The administration had cast it three times and every time the line was between Kyungsoo and Kai's names, with not so much as a branch toward any other Master.

Kai wasn't as surprised as everyone else.

He was an incredibly accomplished mage in his own right. That was why they graduated him to Master, kept him around, and let him have his own workroom. He had been a child prodigy when he came to the castle, possessing a natural affinity to void. But he had a bad habit of pushing things to an extreme on a whim without consideration of what might happen beyond his intended outcome and, frequently, without putting up proper circles, warding, or protective enclosures.

Thus the current situation and state of his workroom.

He couldn't help it. He got so excited when he got what he thought was a good idea.

Really, the only part of Kyungsoo being apprenticed to him over someone else that didn't make sense to Kai involved their particular casting methods, how magic best related to and obeyed their instruction. Kai's casting was based on movement, gestures, sometimes motions involving his entire body. Kyungsoo's was verbal, most effectively used in song or chant.

"Is your head all right?" Kyungsoo asked as he returned and handed Kai a glass.

"Some would argue no," Kai said, smiling a bit as he sipped, "nor has it ever been."

Kyungsoo smiled. He had a pleasant smile.

Kai sighed and gestured toward the window, puffs of black smoke still drifting out into the air. "The lawn outside the castle is just so dull this time of year. I thought it would be nice if I could brighten it up a bit."

"Hiring a groundskeeper who wasn't a drunk would probably be more efficient."

There it was. Kyungsoo's charming practicality.

"True," Kai agreed. "I'll suggest it to Suho."

His apprentice sighed as he sat on the floor, looking around and shaking his head at the mess. Kai stared at him, which he often did when Kyungsoo wasn't looking at him. He did look at Kyungsoo when Kyungsoo was looking at him, too, but usually in the eyes and not admiring the man.

Kyungsoo was Cylin, meaning he had distant elvish relatives. His facial features were very distinct, yet softly formed, especially his heart-shaped mouth. He kept his black hair close cropped and wore the beige tunic and breeches that marked him as an apprentice. Kai's gaze traveled to Kyungsoo's hands, folded in his lap, at the thin black cord that stood out in stark contrast to his moon pale skin. They looped around his fingers and crossed on the back of his hand before winding up, binding Kyungsoo's forearms in decorative knots that disappeared under the short sleeves of his tunic.

Kai, on the other hand, was Sivit, meaning long ago, demon blood had been introduced into his family line. How (as it could have been mating or something far more grisly) and more curiously  _why_ was long forgotten, but genetics for tipped ears and enlarged canines ran strong even after however many generations. He was lithe, yet muscular, his casting demanding flexibility and strength, and utterly the opposite of Kyungsoo with his sun-stained skin and pale blond hair.

"You expended a lot of energy on this," Kyungsoo said, lifting his chin toward the mess. "Do you still need to..."

"Even if I didn't need to share balance," Kai interrupted, "it's good practice for you."

"Then, we'll meet as planned tonight?"

"Unless you have some objection."

"No. Not at all."

~~~

The sliver of the moon overhead lit the woods as Kai followed invisible paths he did not need to see.

It was a warm night, almost preternaturally calm. There was almost always wind near the castle, but tonight not a leaf stirred.

Kai entered a perfectly circular clearing, he flicked his wrist to ignite a soft blue magefire in the center, illumination subtle enough not to take away from the moon's pure light. He stripped off the brown robes of his mastery, naked beneath, draping it over the lower branch of an oak.

He sauntered into the clearing, twisting his arm through the air to let the ambient magic know he was present and his intent. He spun around the blue magefire and began to dance. Naked and bathed in moonlight was the purest form of expression for his particular casting. And he enjoyed the sensual freedom of it.

The magic of the cardinal elements - earth, air, water, fire - gathered thickly to witness his performance. Kai danced in a vague circle, long limbs, extending to his fingers and toes, carefully controlled and yet also moving with wild abandon. He inhaled the air deep into his lungs as the distant fire of the moon caressed his skin, felt the earth and damp of the grass beneath his feet.

He sensed the dark eyes watching him long before he actually saw Kyungsoo standing on the edge of the clearing, leaning against a birch as he observed. There was lust in his gaze, a flash of silver in the black pools of his eyes, his pink tongue slid between his plush lips. (Someday, Kai wanted to explore the depths of that lust.) Kyungsoo only wore a loose ivory chemise that fell to his knees, and the black cords.

Kai felt the corners of his mouth higher as he put more flourish into his dance, letting a music only he could hear take him. His sweat-soaked skin gleamed when he did stop, standing before the magefire, with it between him and Kyungsoo. He lifted his gaze to stare directly at his apprentice and raised one hand, pointing before he curled his finger to beckon.

Kyungsoo's chest pushed forward, as if pulled by an invisible string. He shook it off before stepping into the clearing of his own accord.

He crossed the wet grass in bare feet and came to stand across the magefire from Kai. His lips moved as he sang a pair of soft words, adding his magic to the magefire, flame taking on a greenish hue.

Their eyes met and held for several breaths.

Kai couldn't help smiling as he went to Kyungsoo, circling the blue-green glow of their magefire. He moved to stand behind Kyungsoo and put his hand on the man's narrow hips clad only in the thin ivory chemise. There were nothing but forest sounds and the feel of cardinal elements, a caress of moonlight, as Kai slowly gathered the loose fabric higher, rucking it up to Kyungsoo's waist. He could hear his apprentice's breathing hasten as he drew the nightgown off. Kyungsoo raised his arms to allow its removal as Kai tossed it aside.

Now they were both naked, nothing between them and the elements, save the cords crossing Kyungsoo's pale skin.

Kai's fingers slid over the nape of Kyungsoo's neck as he took one step back.

The black cords were knotted intricately over Kyungsoo's forearms and calves, coin, flower, and prosperity knots, continuing up to a lesser decorative extent along his biceps and thighs, winding around his torso and coming together in an intricate knot at the small of Kyungsoo's back. Beautiful. Just beautiful.

"Do you feel the cardinal elements?" Kai asked as he touched the cords where they crossed Kyungsoo's shoulder blades. "All four?"

"Yes," Kyungsoo said, keeping a tremble from his voice.

"Are you ready?" Kai asked in the barest whisper as his fingers pulled at the intricate temple knot.

"Ready," Kyungsoo answered as he began to sing.

His voice was rich, warm, and mesmerizing as it rang out, filling the clearing as he sang to the cardinal elements, calling them, as Kai had done with his dancing. Kai's fingers deftly began undoing the knots, starting at small of Kyungsoo's back. He was practiced now and it didn't take long for the black cords to slip away from the pale, smooth skin of his apprentice, revealing the curling wisps of silver-white energy that had been hidden beneath.

Raw magic. Force energy. It have been etched into Kyungsoo's skin as a babe. Before he was allowed to make choices of his own, before he could understand why it had been done. That was why Kyungsoo had come into his magic late. It was too strong at birth and had been silenced by...  _someone_. Even now the sheer power could go out of control without the binding. This ritual was to learn sharing of elemental energy between mages, but it was also a chance for Kyungsoo to explore being unbound in a safe space.

Kai let his fingers linger as he removed each cord, stroking over the slithering silver-white energy it revealed. If the magic laced in Kyungsoo's skin did not accept Kai's presence by the time the black cords were fully removed and Kyungsoo stopped singing. Well, the explosion in the lab had been louder, but the impact that would throw Kai across the clearing was much, much more powerful. The clearing itself was testament to Kyungsoo unbound. 

He removed the last of the black cording from Kyungsoo's left hand and Kyungsoo let the song trail off as the ambient magic settled around them. It was several tense moments as they stood before the magefire, Kai's hands on Kyungsoo's shoulders, before they both let out sighs.

The magic in Kyungsoo's skin had accepted Kai.

For now.

Kai turned Kyungsoo to face him, smiling as he leaned down as he gave the sweet, plush mouth a chaste kiss.

There was an undeniable attraction between them.

This was not, perhaps, how the administration or the Council would approve of Master, apprentice relations going. However, it would hardly be a first. Look at Suho and Kris. This might even be part of why the assignment spell had been so adamant they be together. Who knew. It was an old spell. Old spells were notoriously romantic in intent.

Kyungsoo responded by pressing his lips to Kai's, his arms around Kai's waist.

That was as far as Kai could allow them to go as they slowly dropped to the ground, facing each other. Kyungsoo's legs were over his thighs as he blushed at the physical display of their attraction. Kai was professional as he interlinked their hands and whispered for Kyungsoo to meet his eyes. Maybe someday there might be more than a kiss before a ritual. Kai hoped. The danger rose with the degree of intimacy. Sex magic was incredibly powerful, potent, and addicting. It was not an option until Kyungsoo felt comfortable unbound. Or felt comfortable bound by Kai.

They stared into each other's eyes as Kai recited the cardinal elements and Kyungsoo did as well.

Kai drew from the high level of earth in Kyungsoo's aura and shared of his own abundance of air to balance them. The mystic energies, like force and void, mages could gather in any amount if they were aligned to it, but the cardinal elements worked best at a balance.

"There has to be a faster way to do this," Kyungsoo panted, nearly moaning, as they drew apart.

"There is. But you have to learn the long form first to understand how," Kai said with a grin as he helped Kyungsoo onto his feet. "How do you feel?"

"Centered," Kyungsoo said. "But, no, I still need the cords."

"I assumed," Kai said as he gathered the black tethers from the grass.

The act of tying the black cord and knotting it around Kyungsoo's body was more erotic than removing it. Both the balancing ritual and the binding of the silver-white power slithering over his skin left Kyungsoo incredibly sensitive. He couldn't help shivering and gasping as Kai's fingers slid over his skin to knot the black cord in place, stroking over the knots to check them. It was a tempting test, and Kai was proud and disappointed whenever he passed.

"I wouldn't say no," Kyungsoo whispered.

"I know," Kai replied.

Kai knelt working on the temple knot at the small of Kyungsoo's back, forcing himself not to avail of the full, round, pale cheeks before him. All he wanted was to kiss or bite to see how Kyungsoo would react. Hear the sound he would make. Kai felt a tingle along his spine.

"Kai..." Kyungsoo said. He must have felt the strangeness in the air as well.

Kai furrowed his brow as he stood and made an arching motion with his hand to one side, so he could feel the forest. Nothing. No, wait. Suddenly Kai could feel a foreign power invading the area, coming like a wave. He bared his teeth in a growl as his fingers flew in gestures to cast a barrier just as it was upon them. A flash of red blinded him as  _something_ struck the shielding and sluiced over it.

The presence was completely gone from his senses a breath later.

"Are you all right?" Kai asked Kyungsoo without looking as he held out a hand and stretched his fingers to try and find the path of whatever it was. Nothing.

"What was that?" Kyungsoo asked from below, as if he'd fallen to the ground.

Kai snuffed out their blue-green magefire with a twist of his wrist and a clutch of his hand. "I don't know," he said, frowning as he went to collect Kyungsoo's chemise and his robe, putting his garment on quickly. "We need to get back to the castle." No response. "Kyungsoo?"

The dark eyes of his apprentice were wide and frightened as Kai turned to see him kneeling on the ground, shaking hard. Kai flushed with shame as he remembered that even if Kyungsoo were the elder of them in years, he was not in his experience with magic. "Kyungsoo," Kai said, moving toward him. "What is it? What did you feel of that presence? Did it touch you?" The barrier had gone up in time, whatever it was shouldn't have touched Kyungsoo at all.

There was an almost hysteric note in Kyungsoo's voice. "It felt as if it were calling to me. No, no. To these!" He thrust his arms out to Kai, gleams for red beneath the black cord, twisting and bulging as if to get free. "W-What do I do, Kai?"

"Be calm. Remember this skin is yours, your own," Kai said, mastering his own mild horror. "Tell the power it is your body."

"How?" Kyungsoo pleaded desperately.

Kai narrowed his eyes as he reached his apprentice and knelt in front of him. For him it would have been a simple flourish of movement, commanding his body to move as demonstration of his ownership. For Kyungsoo... "Sing," he said. "No prepared spell or chant, simply sing the truth."

Kyungsoo's lips moved clumsily over the words, but his cadence was good and the red power struggled less.

"Does it hurt?" Kai asked as he ran his palms over the outstretched forearms.

Kyungsoo nodded as he kept singing. His eyes were so wide, so dark and frightened. Kai wanted to hold him.

Kai slid his fingers over the back of Kyungsoo's forearm, touching as much skin as he could between the knotting cord. He flicked his fingers at the elbows and then let his thumbs drag over the inside from the bend of the elbow to the vulnerable pulse at Kyungsoo's wrists. The energy was powerful, and not wholly his own. Kai let his own wrap gently around his apprentice.

"Did that help?"

Kyungsoo nodded again and let his singing taper off. The force energy beneath the cords no longer gleamed red. It had returned to silver-white or simply invisible and hidden by the criss-cross of the black cords. "I feel too weak to walk," Kyungsoo said as he donned the chemise forgotten at Kai's knee, shivering violently.

Kai touched his fingers to Kyungsoo's forehead and felt a rise in temperature. "You'd wake the guards with the power you're radiating," he said. Though, everyone should be awake at the castle if the strange wave had reached so far. "We'll go back another way."

The rune on the back of Kai's right hand flared to life as he stood.

He had what a Council member called a once in a generation connection to the mystic energy of the void. Which meant teleportation spells came easier to him than most. Faster, too. There were a pair of trees at the edge of the clearing he used as a doorway, motioning to etch the boundaries before dipping his hand to call the void energy. He spun and cut his arms left and right as the air between the trees parted, a blue-gray shimmering-nothing. He collected Kyungsoo, who had curled up on the ground and was breathing heavily, and stepped through into his bed chambers. He had a doorway set there at all times.

Kai had a wry thought this was hardly how he wished to sweep Kyungsoo into his inner chambers and onto his bed. But life, much like magic, was erratic. Kyungsoo let out a groan as he was helped onto the canopied bed, his cheeks flush, radiating heat.

"Is there any pain?" Kai said, sitting on the edge of the bed. He needed to go get Yixing. "Any signs of illness?"

"I feel feverish. That's it. Like I overexerted," Kyungsoo said, his eyes having taken on a glassy appearance as he looked around. "Where am I?"

"My room," Kai said as he ran a hand over Kyungsoo, palm down, several inches above him. He couldn't feel anything amiss in his apprentice.

"It's less of a mess than I... expected..." Kyungsoo said, his words starting to slur.

The pounding on his outer doors made Kai curse as he drew a blanket over Kyungsoo, who was still looking around in confusion. "I will be right back," he said, leaving his bed chamber and walking through the receiving rooms, which were probably exactly as messy as Kyungsoo expected, filled with failed experiments.

He nodded his head for the wards to relax as he opened the door.

Suho, Head Administrator, stood outside, looking as pale as Kyungsoo. His former apprentice, current bodyguard and lover, Kris, hovered over his left shoulder, looking more severe than usual. Kai didn't even get a chance to make a comment about the hour as Suho grabbed his shoulder and shook him, exclaiming the one thing Kai had hoped never to hear in his lifetime.

"The Red Force has returned!"

**Author's Note:**

> Love comments. ^_^ Also posted at asianfanfics.


End file.
